I WAS
SO STUPID
'I can’t believe I was so stupid. It’s just that when
they do all this hard-sell when you’re at their mercy, it’s very difficult
for you to say no.' - Ms Li, who had two facials at a beauty
parlour which left her with itchy skin, acne and swollen eyes.
WART A
MISTAKE
NO PAIN, no gain, her beautician told her.
But even after suffering 20 minutes of excruciating pain,
Ms Lim Yue Lim who had wanted her facial warts removed, still could not
see the benefits of the procedure.
The 27-year-old secretary had opted to do what she thought
was a simple procedure at a modest salon at Toa Payoh.
She realised her mistake after just 20 harrowing minutes.
The treatment, which involved using a high-intensity laser
to remove the warts, was done without anaesthetic, because beauty parlours
are not allowed to administer it.
So each laser bolt sent shockwaves through her.
“It was very painful, like being burnt by fire,?she said.
Halfway into the treatment, after 10 warts had been removed,
she |
decided enough was enough as she could not tolerate
the pain any longer.
The procedure left scabs on her face which did not fall
off until weeks later.
“I looked very ugly, like I had chicken pox, and as time
went by, I became seriously worried about whether I was going to end up
looking like that forever,?she said.
Then last week, she finally went to see a dermatologist
at Ngee Ann City.
The doctor gave her an anaesthetic injection near her
eyes and rubbed an anaesthetic cream on her face.
The whole process was fast and painless.
She was given antiseptic cream to use after the treatment
and her wounds healed within days. |
|
Pressured by the spa manager
into thinking she needed to look like a supermodel, Laura signed up for
a slimming course. |
'FREE' SPA DAY
COST $1,600
LAURA (not her real name) was impressed when she stepped into
the spa in Beach Road. It was furnished beautifully, well-equipped and
resembled a posh club.
But when she walked out of the place about four hours
later, she was close to tears and seething with fury.
The 28-year-old writer had found a voucher in a women’s
magazine for a free massage and use of spa facilities, and had intended
to spend a lazy afternoon there.
But she was told that the facilities were not available
that day.
Instead, she was ushered into a small office, where the
manager tried to talk her into signing up for a slimming course.
When she hesitated, the manager started to put her down,
telling the slim girl that her body was “far from perfect?and needed “major
reconstruction?
Harassed, she signed up for the cheapest course available
- a 10-session slimming package. Her first session began that day.
Two beauticians stripped her down to her underwear and
massaged her tummy, arms and thighs. Then, without her permission they
opened up new bottles of cream and lotion and used them on her.
After that, she was presented with a bill of $5,700.
“I wasn’t in the right frame of mind,?she recalled. “I was
semi-naked, with two aggressive beauticians hovering over me menacingly
and all I could think of was to get dressed quickly and get out.?
She signed the bill, hoping to retract it later when she
was less vulnerable.
But the manager would have none of it, insisting that
she had signed willingly.
Laura went back the next day and had a row with the manager,
who still refused to give her a refund.
She complained to the Consumers Association of Singapore
eventually.
A week later, she got a refund for the products but not
the course. The course had cost $1,600, but she decided to drop the matter,
out of exasperation.
“Never am I stepping back in there again. It was an expensive
lesson to learn.?nbsp; |
|
